Hutchinson ? A Hutchinson man accused of putting two young children in a clothes dryer is now charged with molesting them.

Aron Pritchard, 27, was arrested and jailed late Friday on the new charges, which could carry multiple life sentences. His bond was set at $100,000.

Pritchard already was charged with a single count of child abuse and another count of endangering a child after allegedly placing a 3-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl in a clothes dryer on Nov. 28, 2006.

On Friday, he also was charged with four counts of aggravated criminal sodomy of the boy, two counts of rape involving the girl and four counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child for allegedly fondling both children.

Prosecutors allege Pritchard put the children in the hot dryer to punish them for wetting their pants. The boy was treated for second-degree burns, but the girl was not injured.

Pritchard maintains that he was giving the children rides in the dryer and said he even put pillows inside the machine to cushion the children.